Hey everyone, it’s Sierra here! Today I’m bringing you an easy tiramisu recipe that even beginner bakers can make!
Kevin’s favorite dessert of all time is tiramisu, so he’s been begging me to make tiramisu for him. I always thought it was a fancy Italian dessert that would be difficult to make, so I’d been putting it off. However, after finally giving in and looking into it, I realized that making tiramisu is actually really easy! I combined many of the recipes I found and reduced it to this easy tiramisu recipe that anyone can make! Just because it is easy though doesn’t mean that it doesn’t taste amazing—Kevin swears that this is the best tiramisu he’s ever eaten (and he’s been to Italy).
The Breakdown of Tiramisu
Classic tiramisu recipes can be broken down into 2 main components—coffee-soaked ladyfingers and mascarpone cream. The mascarpone cream can then be broken down into two more components—an egg yolk mixture and whipped heavy cream with mascarpone mixture (some recipes also use a meringue, but I found that that didn’t make a big difference so I skipped it).
Preparing the Ladyfingers
To prepare the ladyfingers, start by brewing a strong cup of instant coffee and adding some liquor (I used brandy but you can also use dark rum). Most recipes online call for espresso powder, but that can be difficult to find. Instead, I found that you could achieve the same taste by doubling the amount of instant coffee per cup that is recommended on the package (i.e. if the package recommends using 2 tablespoons of instant coffee per cup of hot water, make the coffee using 4 tablespoons of instant coffee instead).
After the coffee mixture is prepared, all you need to do is quickly dip both sides of each ladyfinger in the mixture. Work with one ladyfinger at a time, and don’t soak the ladyfingers for too long in the mixture, or else they will get too soggy.
To start, only prepare half of the ladyfingers and arrange them in a way such that they cover the entire bottom layer of your baking tray. You might need to break some of the ladyfingers to get a good fit. The rest of the ladyfingers will be prepared after the mascarpone cream.
Preparing the Mascarpone Cream
For the mascarpone cream, the egg yolk mixture and the heavy cream with mascarpone mixture will be prepared in separate bowls and folded together. This creates a fluffy cream that is rich in taste.
To make the egg yolk mixture, whip (with whisk or hand mixer) together egg yolks and sugar. Many tiramisu recipes will have you do this step in a double boiler to pasteurize the eggs, but that adds a lot of extra complexity. For this easy tiramisu recipe, I use pasteurized eggs that are already safe to eat raw so we can skip the double boiler. If your eggs are not pasteurized, you can check out Sally’s Baking Addiction’s recipe to see how you can do this step in a double boiler.
Keep whipping the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture is a pale yellow and falls off of the whisk in ribbons when lifted up. You should be able to see the ribbons remain on the surface of the mixture for a second before they reintegrate.
To make the heavy cream with mascarpone mixture, start by whipping heavy cream and sugar until medium peaks form. When you lift the whisk, the tip of the peak that is formed should fold over, but the rest of the peak should hold its shape. If the peak stands straight up, you have firm peaks, and if the entire peak looks like it’s sagging, you have soft peaks. Don’t worry if your peaks are on the firmer side though, it’ll still taste great!
After medium peaks are formed, simply whip in the mascarpone and brandy until a smooth mixture is created.
When both the egg yolk mixture and heavy cream with mascarpone mixture are done, gently fold in the heavy cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Once it’s fully mixed in, you have your mascarpone cream filling!
Assembly
With the ladyfingers and mascarpone cream completed, it’s time to assemble the tiramisu!
Spread half of the mascarpone mixture on top of the ladyfingers that are already in the baking tray, trying to flatten the top of the cream as evenly as possible. Then prepare the rest of the ladyfingers and arrange in another tight layer on top of the cream. Finally, spread the remaining mascarpone cream on top of the ladyfingers and dust with a thick coat of cocoa powder.
That’s all there is to it! Just refrigerate overnight to let the flavors fully integrate, and you are ready to enjoy this delicious tiramisu!
Now that you know the breakdown, let’s get started on this easy tiramisu recipe!
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